*** WARNING: NO POKER CONTENT ***
Hey folks. I think its time we had a talk. We’ve both spent a lot of time mulling over this LOST show, but I’ve got some pretty exciting news: I have developed an overall theory that makes sense. Prepare yourselves.
Now, the knowledge I am about to break over your head matches all hints so far. It may even include some conclusions that you had already come to or were otherwise obvious. But this is an overarching theory that covers everything, including how the very nature of the show at its core. If anyone can point out how something in the show does not fit within my theory, I’d be glad to hear it. In fact, I may even award a prize. A, hell, why not. $5 on Full Tilt. It’s a small sum, but its free money, so quit complaining.
Here it is:
Jacob is God. The Man in Black is Lucifer or a similar type character. He is a fallen angel.
Jacob created man. Lucifer (we’ll go with that title for now) thinks that man is a flawed invention. Maybe he thinks that he and the rest of the angels should have been God’s chosen race. So, he rebelled and was banished to an Angel’s Prison. That prison is known as Island of LOST.
Jacob wants to convince his fallen angel that man is good. So, he seeks out people and sends them to the island. He works in mysterious ways to put them on the right path. He called the Oceanic flight members to the island, just as he called the Ajira passengers to the island.
Lucifer is the prince of liars. Therefore, he can change form to take on the guise of other people. It appears as though this is limited to dead people, only.
Lucifer cannot kill Jacob, likely because he has no free will. Lucifer is made to be evil. Either that, or he cannot kill Jacob because Jacob is God and perhaps an angel cannot kill his maker. He can, however, get one of the human beings, who have been given the gift of free will, to kill Jacob, since Jacob gave them free reign (i.e., free will). Hence, Lucifer used Ben and in fact created a situation in which Ben would be so hurt by Jacob that he would kill him. That’s why Lucifer came to Ben as the smoke monster and then as his daughter to convince him to follow Locke, who was also Lucifer. Then, Locke/Lucifer put in Ben’s head the fact that Jacob turned his back on Ben. So, Ben acts like a petulant child and kills a diety.
The island as an Angel’s Prison could be slightly off. It may be that this is where all Angels live. I would not be surprised if Richard Alpert is another angel. In fact, the temple we saw yesterday is likely the home of other angels, as well, including the Asian dude who did not like the taste of English on his tongue. (Was it just me, or was that simultaneously one of the coolest and most insulting lines). It seems one can only get to the temple through a special passageway. It may be that Lucifer cannot go through that passageway, so that he is exiled on the island, but unable to get to the place where all the angels (and, likely, Jacob before his death) live. Once Jacob died, though, all bets were off, hence all the preparation by the people at the temple.
The God concept explains fully how the Island could be moved in time and place. It is not a place on Earth as much as it is a Garden of Eden or a roaming heaven that can be accessed from the Earth but is separate from it. That also explains the healing properties of the island.
Now, I will add one caveat that will cut off some of the $5 offer. I do not yet fully understand how the storyline has split between the Losties who never landed on the island and the Losties who changed time but are still on the island. I have a feeling they both simultaneously exist because even though the timeline was changed, those on the island may not be affected, creating two Jacks, Sawyers, etc. How this will all play out, I do not know. I am not God, after all. Jacob is.
So, any thoughts?
Until next time, make mine Bernard!
February 3rd, 2010 - 12:49 pm
I’m on record from around Season 3 as thinking that the island is the Garden of Eden, and that is still my operational theory.
So I’m on board with you, sir. Though I don’t know if they will make it as stark as God/Lucifer; ambiguity is their bag.
February 3rd, 2010 - 1:51 pm
This theory would be made complete with the “Adam and Eve” skeletons in the cave from Season 1 actually turning out to be the real Adam and Eve from the Genesis story — the first real humans.
If this ends up going all religious on us, the people will be very upset me thinks.
February 3rd, 2010 - 6:07 pm
I said the exact same thing on Facebook today. So I cannot, at this point win $5 from you. I do hope for the return of my favorite chaacter sometime soon. Make mine Mr. Ecko!
February 4th, 2010 - 9:19 am
And where does the French team factor into this? The ones that turned on Rousseau.
February 4th, 2010 - 10:41 am
Good question, ASG. The French team were simply another group of human beings brought to the island by Jacob to show Lucifer that man is good. I don’t remember 100% how their storyline went, but I don’t remember anything from their storyline that would oppose the idea of Jacob as God or Lucifer as a fallen angel.
February 4th, 2010 - 3:56 pm
I meant that they all went down into the temple, something happened (spoke to Lucifer), and then they all tried to kill Rousseau (the only one that didn’t go down because she was pregnant) and Jin convinced her not to.
February 4th, 2010 - 4:30 pm
Sorry, punctuation got messed up:
I meant that the team all went down into the temple, something happened (spoke to Lucifer?), and then they all tried to kill Rousseau (the only one that didn’t go down because she was pregnant and Jin convinced her not to).
But just to add my opinion to the theory, Jacob seems more like Jesus than God. He’s mortal, Ben’s like the Judas that killed him. We’ll see if he’s ressurected in some fashion soon.
February 4th, 2010 - 6:21 pm
BTW, a friend of mine posted this before the season premier:
I’m thinking we’re talking about Jacob and his fraternal twin brother Esau. Esau’s name in Hebrew means “hairy”… and that dude had a bit of a beard.
The biblical Easu emerges from the womb with Jacob grasping his heel.
Easu was supposed to be in charge upon the death of their father, Isaac. However, as children Jacob tricks Easu out of his birthright. Easu comes in hungry and he trades his birthright for food. So in their first interaction on TV Jacob offers Easu some food, and Easu says he already ate. That’s some irony.
Years later, as adults their father Issac is on his deathbed and assigns Easu a task for which Issac will bless him, and confer his birthright upon him. Easu has forgotten his earlier agreement, and Jacob completes the assigned task and returns to Issac for the blessing. lsaac is by this time too old to see well, and in turn Jacob also tricks his father into getting the blessing for himself. Upon learning that his birthright (control of all things) has been legally usurped Easu threatens to kill Jacob. So this happens on TV and in the bible.
There is some disagreement of how these events should be viewed. Is Easu unjust b/c he so carelessly gives up his birthright… and for his appetites no less? Does this reveal that he is too focused on the body and thus distracted by it?
So … was Easu robbed? Or was he careless?
Also not agreed upon is the notion of the justice of Jacob. Was he just in usurping the power? Was this one of those situations where the brothers were unequal in mind… and therefore Jacob, correctly recognizing his fitness to rule… rightly steals it from Easu. But this “stealing” involved asking for it. He steals it in a very just manner… via the use of reason. He openly steals it.
The biblical Jacob is sent away into exile with followers to rule over his tribe, while Easu stays behind and has his own tribe.
On TV in the past… Jacob appears as himself… but did he always? I’m inclined to suspect that it will be shown that he always appears as himself. Lost has a lot of dead people visiting other people. And I think we may find that these dead people are themselves manifestations of Easu. In turn it may be that Easu never appear as himself.
Loke as a philosopher, always says “the island told me to”. He always appeals directly to nature. He looks to nature. So, “the island” or… perhaps “Jacob”… speaks to some people. People who are fit to listen. Men of consideration. Men of discretion and good judgment. This is what a philosopher is… and according to Maimonides that’s also the kind of dude to whom revelation is permitted. Maimonides compares revelation to the vision available momentarily in a flash of lightning. He says for some there are only a few lightening strikes in a lifetime. For others, there are periodic ones, and for still others… lightning is constantly going off, and it looks like daytime to them. They can “see” much more than others, much farther than others… or we might also say… they are being allowed to glimpse divinity… the curtain is being pulled back for them and “revelation” is provided.
So I suspect that while Locke was alive on the island, Jacob was speaking to him. Then, he died. After death, Esau was in charge of him. Or, Easu simply inhabited his body.
Dead people told Locke to leave the island. So, perhaps Easu told Locke to leave the island. It may also be that Easu was the one in the cabin and used the poor lighting to trick Locke…? In a manner that is similar to the way he was tricked.
When Locke got back to civilization, he was given a new name. He was now Bentham. Named for Jermey Bentham a political philosopher who rejected natural right.
Why did his name change? Is it b/c he had unknowingly switched sides? Was he now in Easu’s hands? Does Easu reject Natural Right? That would make sense… as he was tricked out of rulership via a “natural” claim to justice. As opposed to a conventional claim… a “legal” claim… a “formal” claim.
So the TV character Locke is slowly robbed of his close relationship with nature, aka his ability to listen to ‘the island’. Upon returning to civilization he once again finds himself crippled. Both physically and spiritually… as he no longer has the ability to lead the people. He speaks to all of them, and none will listen.
What of Ben? (In Genesis, Ben is the son of Jacob. From wiki: “Benjamin: the second (and last) son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin.”
Ben was also saved by ‘the island’. To whom does Ben listen? Is he the anti-Locke? Is he the one who leads but was then exiled? Was he tricked out of leading? And his revenge is to kill both Locke and Jacob.
It’s interesting to me also that “dead Locke” speaks openly with Ben only. He tells Ben exactly what he’s going to do. He doesn’t tell him that “Ben” will do it. En-route Locke asks why Ben does not tell Richard of Locke’s plan. Ben tells Locke that he will do anything he tells him.
Does he tell him to kill Jacob? I don’t remember, I’m going to have to watch it again. But I think he just says “You’re going to kill Jacob”, or “You’re going to do it.”… Then later I don’t recall him saying “Kill Jacob”… it seemed more like “Do what you came here to do”. Then Ben works himself up into a frenzy at Jacob essentially for being left out.
February 5th, 2010 - 9:07 am
Wow, ASG. Your friend has a lot more of the theological background than I do. Everything he suggests makes perfect sense.